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2. China’s Evolving Approach to Foreign Aid
- Author:
- Jingdong Yuan, Abhishek Andasu, and Xuwan Ouyang
- Publication Date:
- 05-2022
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Stockholm International Peace Research Institute
- Abstract:
- China’s role in foreign aid and, more broadly, in development cooperation on the global stage has grown significantly since it began seven decades ago. Particularly in recent years, through such platforms as the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), China’s profile and engagement in global governance in foreign aid and related areas have been further enhanced. China’s ambition is to take a more proactive approach in foreign aid and move towards a model of international development cooperation by linking with the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and by including the BRI as a major platform to achieve key development goals. This paper provides a timely analysis of the evolution of China’s foreign aid policy in the past seven decades with a particular focus on the developments since 2000. It discusses China’s development finance to Africa and the major sectors receiving Chinese aid. It also analyses recent trends of Chinese foreign aid and identifies some of the challenges that China faces as it becomes a major player in international development financing.
- Topic:
- Development, Foreign Aid, Infrastructure, Sustainable Development Goals, and Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)
- Political Geography:
- China and Asia
3. Diversifying Supply Chains: The Role of Development Assistance and Other Official Finance
- Author:
- Conor M. Savoy and Sundar R. Ramanujam
- Publication Date:
- 06-2022
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Institute for Security and International Studies (ISIS)
- Abstract:
- The Issue: The international political economy has undergone significant transformation since March 2020, profoundly impacting global supply chains and bringing to light the risks supply chains pose to economic development around the world. This brief explores some of these risks in detail and lays out the role foreign assistance can play in de-risking and diversifying supply chains by building capacity in new partner countries.
- Topic:
- International Cooperation, Political Economy, Foreign Aid, and Supply Chains
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
4. Renewable energy in Africa is about more than climate change: Aid needed for both clean energy and local capacity
- Author:
- Rasmus Hundsbæk Pedersen and Ole Winckler Andersen
- Publication Date:
- 03-2021
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
- Abstract:
- Development assistance for new renewable energy in Sub-Saharan Africa is increasingly being used to mobilise additional private capital. Recipient countries do not always share the priorities of donors. Realism and long-term support are key. RECOMMENDATIONS: Continue funding, but also acknowledge different interests and objectives, in order to move new renewable energy to scale. Balance the support for market development with support to government entities. Support longer-term capacity-building to ensure energy sector sustainability in recipient countries. Adopt flexible approaches and ensure independent advice to governments and institutions.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, Development, Foreign Aid, and Renewable Energy
- Political Geography:
- Africa, Europe, Denmark, and Sub-Saharan Africa
5. Seizing Opportunities and Strengthening Alliances in Northwest Africa: Ideas for Policy Toward Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia
- Author:
- Robert Satloff and Sarah Feuer
- Publication Date:
- 02-2021
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
- Abstract:
- Modest investments of U.S. diplomatic capital, economic aid, and security assistance can help these three countries and advance American interests. In the third in a series of TRANSITION 2021 memos examining the Middle East and North Africa, Robert Satloff and Sarah Feuer look at the U.S. relationship with Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia. All three countries are facing sharp challenges, from economic strains exacerbated by the pandemic to potential instability arising from the conflicts in Western Sahara and Libya. But this far corner of the region also offers strategic opportunities for the Biden administration to help these countries and, in turn, advance a range of key U.S. interests. “In contrast to many other areas of the Middle East, northwest Africa offers a realm in which relatively modest investments of American diplomatic capital, economic aid, and security assistance can yield substantial returns, and the point of departure for the incoming administration’s bilateral engagement will, for the most part, be not one of tension but rather of opportunity,” write the authors. In the coming weeks, TRANSITION 2021 memos by Washington Institute experts will address the broad array of issues facing the Biden-Harris administration in the Middle East. These range from thematic issues, such as the region’s strategic position in the context of Great Power competition and how to most effectively elevate human rights and democracy in Middle East policy, to more discrete topics, from Arab-Israel peace diplomacy to Red Sea security to challenges and opportunities in northwest Africa. Taken as a whole, this series of memos will present a comprehensive approach for advancing U.S. interests in security and peace in this vital but volatile region.
- Topic:
- Security, Diplomacy, Foreign Aid, Economy, and Joe Biden
- Political Geography:
- Algeria, North Africa, Morocco, Tunisia, and United States of America
6. Investing in Jordan Through Support for Social Enterprises
- Author:
- Lilian Tauber
- Publication Date:
- 02-2021
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
- Abstract:
- By committing to long-term investments in Jordan’s communities through support for social enterprises, the United States can contribute to the country’s stability and economic growth. In Jordan, one of the United States’ most reliable allies in the Middle East, economic volatility is a major threat to stability and has led to recurrent protests since 2011. High youth unemployment rates and a large refugee population contribute to its economic woes and political tensions, all of which are now exacerbated in the Covid-19 pandemic. The United States can support Jordan’s recovery from the pandemic through long-term investment in social entrepreneurship. The country’s entrepreneurship ecosystem is in a developing stage, with most resources focused on short-term funding and training, so a shift in U.S. aid to longer-term support can make a significant difference. Increasing funds and providing multi-year mentorship and operational support to select social enterprises (SEs) will allow them to become powerful forces for positive change and civic engagement in their communities.
- Topic:
- Development, Foreign Aid, Economy, and Investment
- Political Geography:
- Middle East, Jordan, and United States of America
7. Public development aid should refocus on agriculture and education in Africa
- Author:
- Louis Caudron
- Publication Date:
- 03-2021
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Robert Schuman Foundation (RSF)
- Abstract:
- On 18 December 2020, the European Commission welcomed the political agreement reached between the European Parliament and the Member States allocating €79.5 billion to a new Neighbourhood, Development Cooperation and International Cooperation Instrument (NDCI) for the period 2021- 2027. Since its creation, the European Union has been a major player in public aid granted by rich countries to developing countries. The European Development Fund (EDF) was launched by the Treaty of Rome in 1957 and for decades provided aid to the former colonies in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific (ACP). The eleventh EDF, covering the period 2014- 2020 with a budget of €30.5 billion, will be replaced by the NDICI (Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument). The Union and its Member States are the world's largest donor of official development assistance. Their contribution of €74.4 billion in 2018 represents more than half of the OECD countries’ Official Development Assistance ($150 billion in 2018).
- Topic:
- Agriculture, Development, Education, and Foreign Aid
- Political Geography:
- Africa and Europe
8. A Comprehensive Evaluation on Korea’s ODA to Rwanda’s Agriculture Sector and Its implications for Strategic Approaches
- Author:
- Young Ho Park, Minji Jeong, and Soo Hyun Moon
- Publication Date:
- 01-2021
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Korea Institute for International Economic Policy (KIEP)
- Abstract:
- There has been a growing consensus in the national and international aid architecture that sporadic or scattered aid modality should be avoided. This study conducted a comprehensive cluster evaluation on Korea’s agricultural ODA to Rwanda between 2013 and 2017, with two newly devised indexes: Cluster Performance Index (CPI) and Resource Allocation Index (RAI). Every Korean agricultural ODA project was categorized into five clusters and numerically evaluated against criteria widely used in the evaluation of development projects: relevance, efficiency, effectiveness and sustainability. Our cluster evaluation reveals that projects are mostly planned appropriately, but in some clusters, large amounts of the budget have been invested in poorly planned projects. Regarding efficiency, there was considerable room for improvement in all clusters. Particularly, in the Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) category, all clusters scored below average. Concerning performance evaluation, all clusters scored relatively high in effectiveness, specifically in goal achievement. Lastly, in terms of sustainability, risk management was found to be relatively inadequate in all clusters. Based on the lessons from the aforementioned observations and analysis results, this study suggests ODA quality can be improved by optimizing budget allocation, improving monitoring efficiency, creating synergistic effects through cluster linkage, and developing agricultural value chain program.
- Topic:
- Agriculture, Foreign Aid, Economy, and Value Chains
- Political Geography:
- Africa, Asia, Korea, and Rwanda
9. Increasing Aid and Development Financing Volumes for the Advancement of Education in Lower-Middle-Income Countries
- Author:
- Christian Novak
- Publication Date:
- 01-2020
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Institute for the Study of International Development, McGill University
- Abstract:
- To advance education in lowermiddle-income countries, official donors and multilateral development banks must increase their financial support to address the financial gap. Specific recommendations: • Expand the use of innovative development financing solutions. • Expand the use of innovative aid solutions. • Multilateral development banks to increase financing volumes and to strengthen efforts to maximize financial additionality and private capital mobilization. • Review the classification of LICs and LMICs. • Increase domestic budget allocation. Implementing the recommendations require coordinated efforts of all stakeholders. In addition, it is paramount that lower-middleincome countries design and fully implement effective long-term education programs and systems. Benchmarking and feedback must be constant, prompting sustained improvement and the adoption of international best practices.
- Topic:
- Development, Education, United Nations, Foreign Aid, Finance, and Sustainable Development Goals
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
10. Coping with COVID-19 and Conflict in Afghanistan
- Author:
- Said Sabir Ibrahimi
- Publication Date:
- 05-2020
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Center on International Cooperation
- Abstract:
- Afghanistan faces many hurdles in coping with the COVID-19 pandemic: a prolonged armed conflict, a lack of social protection systems, limited healthcare capacity, and insufficient preparedness and coordination mechanisms. The Afghan government has developed a response plan and secured aid from international donors, but effective implementation remains challenging. This briefing by Said Sabir Ibrahimi and Dr. Naqibullah Safi provides an overview of the current state of the COVID-19 response in Afghanistan against the background of the ongoing conflict. It also details the additional challenges that hamper Afghanistan’s ability to deal with the crisis and provides recommendations for mitigating them.
- Topic:
- Foreign Aid, Conflict, Humanitarian Crisis, and COVID-19
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan and South Asia
11. The Beirut Disaster: Implications for Lebanon and U.S. Policy
- Author:
- Saleh Machnouk, Hanin Ghaddar, Matthew Levitt, and Charles Thépaut
- Publication Date:
- 08-2020
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
- Abstract:
- Four experts discuss the deadly Beirut explosion as it relates to the Lebanese political system, Hezbollah hegemony, and foreign aid. On August 13, The Washington Institute held a virtual Policy Forum with Saleh Machnouk, Hanin Ghaddar, Matthew Levitt, and Charles Thepaut. Machnouk is a columnist at the Lebanese daily an-Nahar and a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Cambridge. Ghaddar is the Institute's Friedmann Fellow and a former journalist with the Lebanese media. Levitt is the Institute’s Fromer-Wexler Fellow, director of its Reinhard Program on Counterterrorism and Intelligence, and creator of its newly released Hezbollah Select Worldwide Activity Interactive Map and Timeline. Thepaut, a French career diplomat, is a resident visiting fellow at the Institute. The following is a rapporteur’s summary of their remarks.
- Topic:
- Foreign Policy, Foreign Aid, Hezbollah, and Disaster Management
- Political Geography:
- Middle East, Lebanon, North America, and United States of America
12. Foreign Aid to Fragile States: How Effective Does It Work?
- Author:
- Yul Kwon, Jisun Jeong, Yoon Sun Hur, Jihei Song, Aila Yoo, and Mi Lim Kim
- Publication Date:
- 09-2020
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Korea Institute for International Economic Policy (KIEP)
- Abstract:
- Korea has put much effort into providing aid for fragile states in efficient and effective ways. As a part of such efforts, Korea established the Fragile States Assistance Strategy in 2017. However, there is still room for improvement in terms of the effectiveness of Korea’s Official Development Assistance (ODA) implementation under fragile and conflict-affected situations. Accordingly, the study aims to suggest policy suggestions for Korea’s development cooperation in fragile states by comparing and analyzing the current status, policies, and characteristics of aid to fragile states in major donor countries, including Germany, Australia, Denmark, and Japan. In addition, we review Korea’s case and draw following policy implications to tackle the remaining challenges. First, it is requisite for Korea to consolidate the whole-of-government approach and reciprocal coordination mechanisms to support for fragile states for overcoming fundamental causes of fragilites. Second, Korea should choose proper types of aid and sectoral aid allocation suitable for overcoming vulnerabilities and development challenges efficiently and effectively in fragile and conflict-affected states. Lastly, the Korean government should conduct a fragility analysis and manage projects systematically.
- Topic:
- Development, Foreign Aid, Fragile States, and Donors
- Political Geography:
- Asia and Korea
13. Six years after Ukraine’s Euromaidan: reforms and challenges ahead
- Author:
- Marek Dabrowski, Marta Dominguez-Jimenez, and Georg Zachmann
- Publication Date:
- 06-2020
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Bruegel
- Abstract:
- Since the Euromaidan protests (2013-2014), Ukraine has had two presidents and four governments. In a difficult environment of external aggression, they have initiated various reforms aimed at bringing the country closer to the European Union and boosting growth. Progress has been partial and relies on international backing, with limited domestic appetite for reform.
- Topic:
- Corruption, Privatization, Foreign Aid, Governance, Reform, European Union, Finance, and Macroeconomics
- Political Geography:
- Europe and Ukraine
14. Creating an Accountability Framework that Serves the Global Fragility Act’s Mission
- Author:
- Susanna Campbell, Dan Hoing, and Sarah Rose
- Publication Date:
- 01-2020
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Center for Global Development
- Abstract:
- In the final days of 2019, Congress passed the Global Fragility Act, an ambitious bill that aims to im- prove how the US government approaches stabilizing conflict-affected states and preventing the es- calation of violence in other fragile contexts. Introduced by a coalition of lawmakers from both sides of the aisle in the House and Senate—led by House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Eliot Engel (D- NY) and Senator Chris Coons (D-DE)—a version of the legislation was passed by the House this spring and boasted 26 cosponsors in the Senate. The Global Fragility Act’s final passage, as part of a large FY2020 spending bill, is a testament to bipartisan commitment and cooperation. The Global Fragility Act asks the State Department to create—jointly with USAID, the Department of Defense, and other agencies—a coordinated, coherent strategy to help prevent violence in fragile states and stabilize conflict-affected areas. As overseers of the taxpayer funds that will be used to implement the act, Congress also included several provisions to hold these agencies to account for achieving results. Accountability for results is important, especially when overseers are far removed from implementation. But how accountability is structured matters quite a bit. When accountability frameworks revolve largely around tight controls and reporting against targets, their good intentions can backfire and contribute to ineffective programming, especially in fragile states. To ensure that the Global Fragility Act’s accountability requirements support rather than undermine the act’s laudable goals, the monitoring, evaluation, and learning processes that accompany the act’s implementation must accomplish two linked but fundamentally distinct things. They must be able to satisfy Washington-based overseers’ reporting needs while also providing projects the space needed for locally informed adaptive management and learning (or continuous adjustment aimed at achiev- ing transformative aims in a dynamic context), which is associated with better outcomes in fragile states. The Global Fragility Act offers an opportunity to rethink the tools through which aid agencies pursue accountability. This note explains how tight controls and target-oriented reporting can nega- tively affect outcomes in fragile states and offers some initial recommendations for creating a stron- ger, outcome-oriented accountability framework.
- Topic:
- Foreign Aid, Leadership, Fragile States, Legislation, and Accountability
- Political Geography:
- North America and United States of America
15. All at sea: Europe’s crisis of solidarity on migration
- Author:
- Shoshana Fine
- Publication Date:
- 10-2019
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR)
- Abstract:
- The European Union’s approach to migration has created a crisis of solidarity. While migrant arrivals in Europe have declined, so has cooperation and responsibility sharing within the EU. Member states’ reluctance to take sustained responsibility for search and rescue operations has exacerbated voters’ sense that the EU has lost control of the situation. The bloc seems to favour informal, ad hoc initiatives on migration governance that have little transparency, as seen in its disembarkation arrangements and the Emergency Trust Fund for Africa. The EU threatens to undermine its credibility in driving reform in north Africa when it cherry-picks its commitments to international obligations, and when it legitimises and funds counterproductive migration practices. The bloc requires bold leadership in telling a story about migration as a normal and necessary phenomenon, and in promoting inclusive, sustainable policies among member states and with third countries.
- Topic:
- Migration, Foreign Aid, Border Control, and European Union
- Political Geography:
- Europe
16. Indian Development Cooperation Regains Momentum: 7 Main Takeaways from India’s 2019-20 Union Budget
- Author:
- Rani Mullen
- Publication Date:
- 07-2019
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Centre for Policy Research, India
- Abstract:
- Since the turn of the century, India has continued to enlarge its development cooperation allocations and become a globally significant development cooperation partner. This brief analyzes India’s 2019-20 Union Budget for its development assistance allocations and, using IDCR’s development cooperation database, finds seven main trends in India’s development assistance allocations.
- Topic:
- Development, Government, Foreign Aid, Budget, and Banks
- Political Geography:
- South Asia and India
17. When Does “What Works” Work? And What Does that Mean for UK Aid R&D Spend?
- Author:
- Charles Kenny, Euan Ritchie, and G. Lee Robinson
- Publication Date:
- 10-2019
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Center for Global Development
- Abstract:
- The UK’s Secretary of State for International Development[1] oversees an aid-financed R&D[2] budget that is larger than that of the next 15 biggest donors combined. [3] At the moment, a considerable proportion of that UK R&D spend goes towards solving global technological challenges related to neglected tropical diseases including malaria, and a considerable proportion again towards local evaluation of aid-financed development interventions. Much of the rest is somewhat opaquely distributed to British universities for research supposedly related to development. As well as reform of this last category, the range of more legitimate activities benefiting from ODA “research and development” calls for innovation in approaches to deliver outcomes. This paper will argue there is a (fuzzy) spectrum of development procedures, for some of which global innovation, evaluation, or “best practice” can be informative, for some of which local evaluation or experimentation can be useful, and for some of which perhaps only practical experience and local wisdom can help. That there is a spectrum of intervention types and research opportunities, and that local evidence is often required, has implications for the kind of research that UK aid can usefully support as part of its R&D program and where that research should happen. In turn, that suggests a reform agenda for the way UK ODA for R&D is currently spent.
- Topic:
- Development, International Cooperation, Foreign Aid, and Research
- Political Geography:
- United Kingdom and Europe
18. International Aid Organizations and the Yemeni Private Sector: The Need to Improve Coordination in Humanitarian Crisis Response
- Author:
- Ali Azaki
- Publication Date:
- 03-2018
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Sana'a Center For Strategic Studies
- Abstract:
- The current humanitarian crisis in Yemen has been precipitated by almost three years of civil war and regional military intervention, with the United Nations declaring the country the world’s largest humanitarian emergency in January 2017. At the end of last year the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) released its 2018 Humanitarian Needs Overview (HNO) in which it reported that roughly 22.2 million Yemenis were in need of some kind of humanitarian protection or assistance, of which 11.3 million were in acute need. This included 17.8 million Yemenis who were food insecure, of which 8.4 million were severely food insecure and at risk of starvation. Some 16 million people were without access to safe water and sanitation; 16.4 million had limited or no access to healthcare, with almost half of the country’s hospitals and clinics essentially out of operation. Both the lack of clean water and limited health care have in turn helped catapult the number of suspected cholera cases in Yemen to more than 1 million. As of December 2017, more than 1,800 schools were damaged or destroyed, which, compounded by three quarters of public school teachers going unpaid for more than a year, had left roughly 2 million children out of school. The humanitarian crisis in Yemen is immense and complex, involving a vast array of interrelated and overlapping factors. What is clear, however, is that while international humanitarian actors have been dramatically scaling up operations to address this crisis since 2015, it is overwhelmingly the Yemeni private sector that has stopped the dire situation from being unfathomably worse. Yemeni business owners – in facilitating everything from imports, to transportation logistics and cash aid distributions – have prevented the country from sliding into mass famine. Private sector businesses have similarly offered a measure of relief from state collapse, which has been precipitated by the evaporation of government revenues and suspension of most public sector operating expenditures, such as salaries for most of Yemen’s 1.2 million civil servants.
- Topic:
- International Organization, Foreign Aid, Private Sector, Humanitarian Crisis, and Coordination
- Political Geography:
- Middle East and Yemen
19. US and German Civilian-led Efforts in Conflict and Fragile Contexts: Addressing Internal Challenges to Improve Impact
- Author:
- Megan German
- Publication Date:
- 02-2017
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Berghof Foundation
- Abstract:
- This brief takes a close look at the government responses of Germany and the United States to conflict and crises around the globe and examines some of the internal challenges that inhibit both countries’ ability to implement conflict mitigation and prevention programs and ultimately their ability to deliver effective foreign assistance abroad. This brief makes recommendations in light of four core obstacles that must be addressed if both nations want to improve their foreign assistance delivery and help to stabilize and transform conflict in fragile contexts.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, Foreign Aid, and Political Crisis
- Political Geography:
- United States and Germany
20. Development assistance for peacebuilding
- Author:
- Rachel M. Gisselquist
- Publication Date:
- 02-2017
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- United Nations University
- Abstract:
- Development assistance to fragile states and conflict-affected areas is a core component of peacebuilding. It includes support for the restoration of core government functions, delivery of basic services, the rule of law, and economic revitalization. Yet, while aid has been among the largest financial inflows to fragile states in recent years, its impact has been mixed. Better understanding of what works and why thus remains a core challenge for development researchers and practitioners.
- Topic:
- Development, Economics, Foreign Aid, Conflict, and Peace
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
21. Aid, environment and climate change
- Author:
- Channing Arndt and Finn Tarp
- Publication Date:
- 12-2017
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- United Nations University
- Abstract:
- Development aid by itself cannot ‘save the planet’. Yet, development aid and institutions have the potential to remain important catalytic actors in achieving developmental and global environmental objectives. Developing countries must be crucial players in successful climate change mitigation as they are responsible for 88% of the growth in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions since 1970. However, the current aid architecture — which was designed in the 1970s when environmental issues were a distant concern — is not well suited to support environmental challenges that extend beyond low-income countries.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, Development, Environment, and Foreign Aid
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
22. The Rupee's Reach: The Lending Curve of India's Development Diplomacy
- Author:
- Nimmi Kurian
- Publication Date:
- 02-2017
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Centre for Policy Research, India
- Abstract:
- India’s transition from being a recipient of aid to a donor makes for a feel-good story. The policy brief questions this rose-tinted rhetoric and argues that there is an urgent need to map and systematise the diversity of India’s engagement as an actor in this evolving space. What sort of normative choices and tensions are these likely to present for Indian diplomacy? At the end of the day, many of these issues will be fundamentally linked to how India perceives its role in the region and the world at large and how it chooses to engage with questions of benefit sharing, trade-offs and the allocation of risks and burdens. Outlining its development priorities and bringing greater clarity to conceptualising what foreign aid with Indian characteristics constitutes should be the first order of business that India needs to attend to, if it wants to stay ahead of the (lending) curve.
- Topic:
- Development, Diplomacy, Foreign Aid, and Currency
- Political Geography:
- South Asia, India, and Asia
23. Europe Must Play a Part in Filling the Power Vacuum in the Sahel
- Author:
- Rasmus Alenius Boserup and Luis Martinez
- Publication Date:
- 12-2017
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
- Abstract:
- Experiencing the consequences of an unstable Sahel, the EU and its member states will sooner or later be forced to fill the security and stability void left behind by the weakness of the states in the Sahel and the lack of willingness of North and East Africa’s regional powers to become involved.
- Topic:
- Humanitarian Aid, International Affairs, and Foreign Aid
- Political Geography:
- Africa
24. Aid for governance: How to support effective, accountable, and inclusive institutions for sustainable development?
- Author:
- Rachel M. Gisselquist and Danielle Resnick
- Publication Date:
- 11-2016
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- United Nations University
- Abstract:
- Aiding government effectiveness in developing countries has been a priority issue for the international donor community since the 1990s. With the Paris Declaration in 1994, donors further committed to aiding government effectiveness in a manner consistent with local ownership and harmonization with national development objectives. These issues have received renewed attention in discussions surrounding the Sustainable Development Goals, which have highlighted the importance of effective governance and institutions.
- Topic:
- Development, Foreign Aid, Governance, and Inclusion
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
25. Four key areas to improve aid effectiveness
- Author:
- Tony Addison and Finn Tarp
- Publication Date:
- 08-2015
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- United Nations University
- Abstract:
- The design and implementation of effective aid policy requires a deeper understanding of the impact of aid and the overall environment in which development aid operates. This policy brief addresses four areas which are key to understanding how aid works: the relationship between aid and economic growth, the effects of aid volatility, the benefits of co-operation, and the macroeconomic management of aid flows.
- Topic:
- Foreign Aid, Economic Growth, and Macroeconomics
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
26. Commitment to Development Index 2014
- Author:
- Owen Barder and Petra Krylová
- Publication Date:
- 01-2015
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Center for Global Development
- Abstract:
- The Commitment to Development Index ranks 27 of the world's richest countries on their policies that affect more than five billion people living in poorer nations. Moving beyond comparing how much foreign aid each country gives, the CDI quantifies a range of rich country policies that affect poor people.
- Topic:
- Development, Poverty, Foreign Aid, and Foreign Direct Investment
27. Results-Based Payments Reduce the Real Costs of Corruption in Foreign Aid
- Author:
- Charles Kenny and William Savedoff
- Publication Date:
- 01-2014
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Center for Global Development
- Abstract:
- Why don't foreign aid programs simply pay recipients for attaining agreed upon results? The idea has been around for decades, but it continues to meet resistance. Some donors worry that programs that pay for outputs or outcomes would not be able to control how funds are used and would thus be vulnerable to corruption. This brief explains why results-based payment systems are actually likely to be less vulnerable to corruption than traditional input-tracking approaches by making the effects of corruption-the failure of programs to deliver results-more visible.
- Topic:
- Corruption, Development, and Foreign Aid
28. Riding the Wave of Reform: Fast-tracking Myanmar's future with good quality aid
- Author:
- Jasmine Burnley and Javier Pereira
- Publication Date:
- 01-2014
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Oxfam Publishing
- Abstract:
- In 2011, following decades of isolation, Myanmar embarked on an unprecedented reform process, raising hopes for a new democracy. These reforms have been welcomed by the international community with rising levels of aid. If properly handled and spent, aid offers an opportunity to harness Myanmar's economic potential and make it work for poor people – reducing inequality, providing essential services, building resilience, and promoting sustainable investment. This paper explores what good-quality aid should look like for Myanmar, what it could deliver for those living in poverty, and what decision makers can learn from other countries, to ensure that aid is a catalyst for democratic reform, equitable growth, and peace.
- Topic:
- Democratization, Economics, Poverty, and Foreign Aid
- Political Geography:
- Southeast Asia and Myanmar
29. Beyond Haiti: Enhancing Latin American Military and Police Contributions to UN Peacekeeping
- Author:
- Bianca Selway
- Publication Date:
- 04-2014
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- International Peace Institute
- Abstract:
- With fifteen UN peacekeeping missions already in operation and another in the Central African Republic on the horizon, UN peacekeeping continues to be in high demand. Today, DPKO deploys more than 83,000 troops, 13,000 police, and 2,000 observers, contributed voluntarily by member states. A majority of these are provided by African and South Asian member states, which together provide 74 percent of the UN's uniformed personnel. Latin America has a longstanding history of participating in UN peacekeeping, stretching back more than fifty years to some of the earliest peacekeeping operations. At present, Latin America contributes almost 7 percent of all UN troops and nearly 2 percent of UN police. Two Latin American states occupy spots in the group of top twenty uniformed contributors: Uruguay with a total of 2,164 uniformed personnel and Brazil with 1,755. Latin American contributions are predominantly military contributions (as opposed to police) to the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), with support to missions in sub-Saharan Africa amounting to less than 2 percent of the total uniformed deployments to the region.
- Topic:
- International Cooperation, United Nations, Foreign Aid, and Peacekeeping
- Political Geography:
- Africa, South Asia, Brazil, United Nations, and Latin America
30. Maximizing the Impact of Aid to Pakistan: Leverage Reform and Local Capacity
- Author:
- Richard Albright
- Publication Date:
- 07-2014
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- United States Institute of Peace
- Abstract:
- The effectiveness of U.S. civilian assistance to Pakistan depends on sustained funding commitments from the United States and sustained commitment to economic and institutional reform from Pakistan. Weak public institutions and poor governance have greatly impeded Pakistan's development. U.S. assistance should focus on strengthening institutions systemically. Direct assistance to the Pakistani government—through financing that supports specific reform programs and policy initiatives and cash-on-delivery mechanisms that offer assistance after agreed performance criteria are met—could incentivize Pakistani public institutions to improve service delivery. Pakistan's devolution of authority to the provinces offers an opportunity for well-targeted and cost-effective initiatives to incentivize improvements in provincial public service delivery in such areas as basic education, health and policing.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Economics, Foreign Aid, and Reform
- Political Geography:
- Pakistan and United States
31. Afghanistan's Looming Fiscal Crisis: What Can Be Done?
- Author:
- William A. Byrd
- Publication Date:
- 08-2014
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- United States Institute of Peace
- Abstract:
- Afghanistan faces a fiscal crisis that reflects worsening domestic revenue shortfalls since 2011, which could reach $1 billion in 2014 compared with the 2011 outlook. The massive theft and fraud at Kabul Bank, failure of mining activities to pay taxes and royalties, and mislabeling of some commercial imports as duty-free are among other contributing factors. Turning the fiscal crisis around will take time, but a legitimate, credible new Afghan government coming into office is essential. Quality leadership and management teams in the Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank will be crucial for success. Urgent measures are needed to turn around poor revenue performance, including strong signals from the top, possible exploitation of limited new revenue sources, and cooperation among different agencies to reduce smuggling and contain revenue leakages. Accelerated recovery of stolen and lost Kabul Bank assets should be a priority, which could provide over $100 million per year of extra fiscal space for the budget. Reforms of the revenue system need to be initiated, including introduction of a value-added tax, and possibly reform of the revenue and customs services. Expenditures will need to be cut. This requires the elimination of unnecessary and wasteful expenditures as well as the meaningful prioritization of programs within a tight resource envelope. Additional international fiscal support will be needed to help stabilize the budget in the short run. Linking aid for the Afghan discretionary budget to increases in domestic revenues and Kabul Bank recoveries would make sense.
- Topic:
- Debt, Economics, Foreign Aid, and Financial Crisis
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan
32. Turning the Tide on Ebola: Scaling up public health campaigns before it's too late
- Author:
- Debbie Hillier
- Publication Date:
- 10-2014
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Oxfam Publishing
- Abstract:
- The current Ebola outbreak in West Africa is totally unprecedented. The accelerating number of cases, the poor health infrastructure in affected countries, the short supply of skills, knowledge and personnel, and the fear surrounding this disease are providing a huge challenge to affected governments and the international community as they battle to bring the epidemic under control.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Security, Health, Humanitarian Aid, Foreign Aid, Health Care Policy, and Ebola
- Political Geography:
- Africa and West Africa
33. TSG IntelBrief: The Death of the Free Syrian Army?
- Publication Date:
- 11-2014
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Soufan Group
- Abstract:
- The collapse of two prominent coalition-supported Syrian rebel groups at the hands of al-Qaeda-affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra (JN) has not just compounded doubts against the capabilities and loyalties of these groups but also doubt as to whether any "moderate" rebel group can succeed. This long-simmering uncertainty about arming and training rebel groups that aren't as cohesive or even as moderate as once hoped throws into question the prospects of an acceptable military solution to the almost four-year long Syrian civil war. The coalition-equipped rebel groups Harakat Hazm and the Syrian Revolutionary Front were overrun in northern Syria by JN-though most rebel groups have long cooperated with it and, unlike Washington, don't consider the group to be a terrorist organization. Reports of increased airstrikes against JN will further drive a wedge between most rebel groups and the U.S.-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA), that demands the primary target is the Bashar al-Assad regime and not extremist groups fighting it. The realities of settling the civil war exclusively, thus far, via rebel military might open up other avenues for non-military actors to assume a role in resolving the war; after all, there are an estimated 2.5 million refugees and another 6.5 internally displaced persons in Syria, with obvious needs that perhaps new Syrian civilian leadership might stand up to address.
- Topic:
- Armed Struggle, Insurgency, and Foreign Aid
- Political Geography:
- Middle East and Syria
34. A Blueprint for a Comprehensive US Counterterrorism Strategy in Yemen
- Author:
- Danya Greenfield and Barbara K. Bodine
- Publication Date:
- 10-2014
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Atlantic Council
- Abstract:
- With the rise of the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) and the explosion of violent conflicts from Tripoli to Gaza, the Middle East is looking more unstable and unpredictable than ever. While the focus in Washington is centered on jihadist extremists in Iraq and Syria at present, the threat from al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) against the United States continues. Top al-Qaeda leadership in Yemen is hailing the territorial gains of ISIS in Iraq, and some al-Qaeda operatives are imitating ISIS' techniques such as public slaughters of those deemed infidels, prompting fears of cooperation between two of the most active Islamist militant networks. Recent aggression by the Houthi movement, a Zaydi Shia rebel militia, against state institutions and tribal opponents has opened a new front of instability and security vacuum that AQAP is all too ready to exploit. Inattention to the interconnected nature of tribal conflict, terrorist activity, poor governance, economic grievances and citizen discontent is proving to be a dangerous combination for both Yemen and the United States. The Yemeni context may seem far from the current focus on Baghdad and Damascus, but getting the US strategy right in Yemen will have consequences for regional stability and core US interests throughout the Arabian Peninsula and beyond.
- Topic:
- Conflict Prevention, Economics, Terrorism, Foreign Aid, Labor Issues, and Reform
- Political Geography:
- United States, Iraq, Arabia, and Syria
35. How to Spur Afghan Reforms: The Limits and Benefits of Incentives
- Author:
- Trent Ruder
- Publication Date:
- 11-2014
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- United States Institute of Peace
- Abstract:
- Donors have increasingly sought to condition assistance funds for Afghanistan, particularly as a result of inadequate reforms during the Karzai administration. Since its negotiation in 2012, the Tokyo Mutual Accountability Framework has been the basis of most donor incentive decisions on Afghanistan. Donors need to consider who benefits from incentives, how resources and requests align, Afghanistan's capacity to implement reform, and the consequences of success or failure. Donors should both temper their expectations and minimize the linkage between highly politicized issues and incentive programs. Incentive programming is not a magic bullet, but it can help shape dialogue with the new Afghan administration.
- Topic:
- Corruption, Foreign Aid, Fragile/Failed State, Governance, and Reform
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan and Tokyo
36. Ukraine: Stress at the IMF
- Author:
- Susan Schadler
- Publication Date:
- 10-2014
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Centre for International Governance Innovation
- Abstract:
- In April 2014, in a departure from its normal aversion to lending to countries in conflict, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved a US$17 billion loan to Ukraine to be disbursed over two years. At the time, Ukraine was three weeks away from a presidential election; engaged in combat with an armed separatist movement backed by Russia, its largest trading partner and supplier of energy; and experiencing a significant drain in foreign exchange reserves and bank deposits along with soaring yields on sovereign debt. The country was also reaping the returns of decades of economic mismanagement. Dire from both political and economic perspectives, the situation had the markings of a case where the IMF has the expertise to be usefully engaged, but there were also red flags demarcating circumstances that can hobble the IMF's effectiveness.
- Topic:
- Economics, International Monetary Fund, and Foreign Aid
- Political Geography:
- Europe and Ukraine
37. The Quality of Official Development Assistance 2014
- Author:
- Nancy Birdsall, Homi Kharas, and Nabil Hashmi
- Publication Date:
- 07-2014
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Center for Global Development
- Abstract:
- The Quality of Official Development Assistance (QuODA) measures donors' performance on 31 indicators of aid quality to which donors have made commitments. The indicators are grouped into four dimensions associated with effective aid: maximizing efficiency, fostering institutions, reducing the burden on partner countries, and transparency and learning. The 2014 edition finds that donors are overall becoming more transparent and better at fostering partner country institutions but that there has been little progress at maximizing efficiency or reducing the burden on partner countries. The World Bank's concessional lending arm, the International Development Association (IDA), performs very well in QuODA, ranking in the top 10 of 31 donors on all four dimensions. The United States ranks in the bottom half of all donors on three of the four dimensions of aid quality and last on reducing the burden on partner countries. The United Kingdom ranks in the top third on three of four dimensions of aid quality and scores particularly well on transparency and learning. The Global Fund ranks in the bottom third on fostering institutions but ranks in the top third on the other three dimensions of aid quality, including the top spot in maximizing efficiency.
- Topic:
- Foreign Policy, Development, Economics, Foreign Aid, and Foreign Direct Investment
- Political Geography:
- United States and United Kingdom
38. Education in Emergencies: The Case of the Dadaab Refugee Camps
- Author:
- Hayley Mackinnon
- Publication Date:
- 07-2014
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Centre for International Governance Innovation
- Abstract:
- Between 1991 and 2009, more than 2.5 million Somali citizens fled their homeland to Ethiopia, Djibouti and, most notably, Kenya, following the collapse of the Somalian government of Siad Barre. This led to violent clashes between various factional clan groups, and fighting to control land and resources ensued. This resulted in the displacement, starvation and slaughter of thousands of civilians, leading to a crisis that prompted international intervention during the 1990s.
- Topic:
- Development and Foreign Aid
- Political Geography:
- Africa, United Nations, and Ethiopia
39. Social Accountability and Public Service Delivery in Rural Africa
- Author:
- Esbern Friis-Hansen
- Publication Date:
- 01-2014
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
- Abstract:
- Social accountability as a tool for development planning is gaining foothold in international donor circles. It is concerned with the responsibility and responsiveness of state authorities, as well as the ability of citizens to make claims and hold those who exercise power to account for their actions.
- Topic:
- Development, Economics, Foreign Aid, and Foreign Direct Investment
- Political Geography:
- Africa